Darwinism and the Linguistic Image: Language, Race, and Natural Theology in the Nineteenth Century
In the nineteenth century, philology—especially comparative philology—made impressive gains as a discipline, thus laying the foundation for the modern field of linguistics. In Darwinism and the Linguistic Image, Stephen G. Alter examines how comparative philology provided a genealogical model of language that Darwin, as well as other scientists and language scholars, used to construct rhetorical parallels with the common-descent theory of evolution.\ The Johns Hopkins University Press
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"A rich and rewarding account of the often subtle connections that bound the nineteenth-century sciences of language and life." — British Journal of the History of Science Booknews Historian Alter explains how Darwin drew models and examples for his theory of evolution from the new discipline of philology, even though analogues of languages descending from common ancestors provided no real scientific evidence for biological evolution. He analyzes the argumentative strategy implicit in such comparisons, and considers the long-term consequences in both biology and the humanities. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)
List of IllustrationsPreface and AcknowledgmentsPrologue: Science as Indirect Discourse11Comparative Philology and Its Natural-Historical Imagery72From the Early Notebooks to The Origin of Species153The Darwinian Circle and the Post-Origin Debates354The Convoluted Path to The Descent of Man725A Convergence of "Scientific" Disciplines108Epilogue: Conjectural Genealogical Reconstruction, Antiquarian Aesthetics, and the Plausibility of Common Descent146Notes149Essay on Sources185Index189
\ British Journal of the History of ScienceThe emphasis throughout on how analogies can influence belief is important and persuasive. All told, Alter has provided a rich and rewarding account of the often subtle connections that bound the nineteenth-century sciences of language and life.\ — Gregory Radick\ \ \ \ \ \ BooknewsHistorian Alter explains how Darwin drew models and examples for his theory of evolution from the new discipline of philology, even though analogues of languages descending from common ancestors provided no real scientific evidence for biological evolution. He analyzes the argumentative strategy implicit in such comparisons, and considers the long-term consequences in both biology and the humanities. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)\ \
